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What are your favorite Mets memories?

06-06-2007, 06:16 PM

My favorite memory of the 1963 Mets was a grand slam by Tim Harkness in something like the 11th or 12th inning, when the Mets were behind 8-6, and there were 2 outs and a 3-2 count on Harkness. I remember thinking that if the Mets had been three and not two runs behind, it would be the most exciting comeback in a single swing imaginable. I haven't looked this game up, but I remember that it happened as my family was driving on the Belt Parkway to my grandparents and being so excited that I couldn't help but bang against the back of my mother's seat and getting yelled at.

My favorite memory of the 1963 Mets was a grand slam by Tim Harkness in something like the 11th or 12th inning, when the Mets were behind 8-6, and there were 2 outs and a 3-2 count on Harkness. I remember thinking that if the Mets had been three and not two runs behind, it would be the most exciting comeback in a single swing imaginable. I haven't looked this game up, but I remember that it happened as my family was driving on the Belt Parkway to my grandparents and being so excited that I couldn't help but bang against the back of my mother's seat and getting yelled at.

This game was played on 6-26-1963 with the chicago cubs playing the mets at the historic polo grounds.Harkness hit the granslam in the 14th inning to give new york a 8-6 victory.this game still exsits today on audio tape from The Miley Collection. the game runs 249 minutes.

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I think it would be nice to have a big thread which collects everyone's favorite moments or memories as a Mets fan. They could be big or small. I plan on posting a few. It would be nice to share them in the absence of actual baseball in the coming months. It would be nice to share them during the season. There has been a lot of magic in the past 47 years, and I know we've all seen our share.

I have a bundle. My first post will be devoted to Game 7 of the 1986 World Series. Yes, Game 6 was a freak event that will be part of baseball lore forever, but the the final consummation of 9 hard years of rebuilding came two nights later. I was lucky enough to be there.

After Game 6, everybody in the stadium (probably including the Red Sox) knew there was no way the Mets would lose the clinching game. Even with the tough Bruce Hurst on the mound and the Mets down 3-0 in the bottom of the 6th a party atmosphere prevailed in the stands. Since late 83, the Mets had a collection of gamers and great bullpen talent that made them the best come from behind team I've ever seen. We knew they wouldn't disappoint us - and they didn't.

It was appropriate that Keith Hernandez would come up with the hit that would break the ice. Who else had been as clutch over the past 3 1/2 years? His single that drove in Mookie and Mazzilli triggered what was the loudest roar I'd ever heard at Shea up until that point. Carter followed up with a sacrifice fly and the game was tied with 3 innings to go.

The bottom of the 7th saw a terrified Calvin Schiraldi come into the game. The Red Sox fans had introduced a mocking chant of "Darryl" to taunt Strawberry and we returned the favor with a "Calvin" chant to honor the guy that had lost Game 6. The stands were literally rocking to the rhythm of the chant. The ground must have been, too. It was eerie and airless and the sense of power you felt as part of a unified mob of 56,000 was balanced by the fear that the stands might give way at any moment. Schiraldi looked more scared than I've ever seen an athlete look at a sporting event. He looked even more scared than Jose Canseco did in his MMA fight against the 7'2" Hong Man Choi. To make the Game 6 flashback complete Knight connects with a long home run on the 4th pitch and the chant erupts into an incredible roar. This was now the loudest I'd ever heard Shea. The fact that the guy who scored the winning run in Game 6 had hit the go-ahead homer off the guy who largely blew Game 6 had a feeling of mathematical perfection to it. The Mets manage to score 2 more off Schiraldi and Joe Sambito - we had sent the Red Sox both of them after they gave up 10 runs apiece in a 26-7 blowout against the Phillies the year before. In those days every trade seemed to turn out golden.

Still, the Red Sox weren't giving up. They scored 2 more in the top of the 8th. 6-5. It was still anybody's ballgame.

I'll never know why John McNamara brought in Al Nipper to face the Mets in the bottom of the 8th instead of Roger Clemens, but I'm glad he did. In short order, Strawberry homers. He takes a very long time to round the bases - vindication for the rough series he'd had and the abuse he'd taken from the Boston fans. We serenaded him with the exact chant the Boston fans had, and from that moment forward it became a cheer of encouragement that would follow him for the rest of his career. Another run and the ball is handed to Orosco who shuts the door and throws his glove in the air, exactly like he did at the end of NLCS Game 6.

In a way, Game 7 felt like a highlight reel of that whole incredible post season.

What I remember most about it was something I never felt before or since: an inevitability that no matter what, the Mets would win - that God wanted the Mets to win and there was no way they'd be denied. The atmosphere at Shea was delirious and unreal - even more memorable than the game itself if that's possible: this is what I remember. I grew up with the Mets being a laughing stock and doormat. That season and its unlikely conclusion were like a fantasy nobody could have scripted better. That game was the summit.

In a way it was also like a cast party for that team and that era. Though we didn't realize it then, the franchise would never be the same again. I had lived and died with the team through the 9 long years of rebuilding and had watched an entrenched culture of losing reversed into the strongest culture of winning I've ever seen. They didn't just want to beat you: they wanted to beat you up.

Part of it is that even though they were incredibly talented and deep, many were scrappers and underdogs. Some like Backman and Dykstra were puny guys who weren't given much of a shot from the beginning. Some like Knight had to prove they still had MLB baseball left in them. Mookie had hustled like his life depended on it even when the games were truly meaningless. Even Keith had been run out of St. Louis. These were the guys who defined the team culture and within 3 years all of them would be gone. But being there for the highest moment and having lived it made all the disappointments that would follow seem less bitter.

I will always remember Shea Stadium as being the top of the world, as it was that night, and I will always love it.

What are your favorite Mets memories?

"The Fightin' Met With Two Heads" - Mike Tyson/Ray Knight!

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I remember being very young and watching the 1988 NLCS, but that's pretty blurry

My first legitimate mets memory is Frank Viola's first mets start after the trade. I remember begging my mother to stay up for the game (it was in st louis and started about 8:30 those days)....I was 5 but I have a vivid recollection of that.....FYI we won in the 9th inning with a 2 out rally with no one on base....Juan Samuel got the game winning hit haha...quite possibly the only good thing he did as a met.

"all the mets road wins against the dodgers this year have occured at Dodger Stadium"---Ralph Kiner

"Blind people came to the park just to listen to him pitch"---Reggie Jackson, talking about Tom Seaver

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Seeing my first Met game in person this past August. Angel Pagan was first at bat with the Mets down three to nothing in the bottom of the first. When Pagan popped it to second, I yelled from the Pepsi Porch for Chase Utley to drop the pop-up. I will never forget seeing Chase Utley drop it and then simultaneously making that throwing error to second which led Angel Pagan to score one of only the Mets two runs in that game.

Seeing the Mets forcing the one-game playoff against the Reds in 1999 by winning the last scheduled game, at home, against the Pirates in the bottom of the 9th inning with the score tied and the bases loaded and Mike Piazza coming to bat with one out. Which they won on a wild pitch scoring the runner from third. Blew my mind.

The "10-run inning" against the Braves in 2000, on Fireworks Night. I was so pissed at the Mets losing yet again in typical embarrassing fashion to the Braves that I would have left after the 7th inning stretch, but for the post-game fireworks. And then... The fireworks I'd REALLY remember! Double, double, walk, walk, walk, double, HR, and the Mets came back from trailing 8-1 in the 8th inning to winning 11-8.

I miss Fireworks Night. It was a great Shea promotion, never to return with the new ballpark's CF oriented towards the highway.

Seeing Bobby Jones (who? what? no way!) throw a complete game one-hitter against the Giants in 2000 to send the Mets to the NLCS. And that one hit was inches away from being caught, too.

Seeing the Mets win what would be their only win in the 2000 World Series against the Yankees.

Fireworks Night in 2004, when the Mets had a Beatles medley tribute for the 40th Anniversary of them playing at Shea. Yeah, the Mets lost the game but the "concert" was great!

Being at the next-to-last game at Shea and seeing Johan Santana keep the Mets alive with a 125-pitch complete game shutout.

Random road game memory: going to an interleague Mets/Orioles game in 1998 when Rey Ordonez made a ridiculous sliding, split-legged backhanded diving catch about ten feet deep in the hole onto the outfield grass, then sprang up and nailed the runner just in time at first base. Even the O's fans applauded that one. It really was jaw-dropping.

Citi Field:

Being at the first pro baseball game played at Citi Field, and seeing the Mets beat the Red Sox in a pre-season game.

Seeing Ryan Church hit a home run into the new HR Apple at Citi Field in a victory against the Phillies in early June of 2009, when the matchup still meant something.

Cherished televised/telecast memories:

Al Leiter's complete game victory over the Reds in the one-game playoff in 1999.

Steve Finley's looking into his glove, then slumping as the umps signaled a home run as Todd Pratt barely cleared the fence (and his glove) to give the Mets a win in the 1999 NLDS.

Robin Ventura's Grand Single. The 1999 Mets came back so often it really did feel like the team had a fighting chance left.

Jay Payton driving in the game-winning home run in the 10th inning in a pivotal Game 2 against the Giants in the 2000 NLCS, after Benitez blew the save, making the difference between being down 2-0 or being tied in a 5-game series.

And then Benny Agbayani's electric 13th inning game-ending home run in the very next game, after the Mets came back from behind to tie the game in the 8th inning (Fonzie came through again). I was at a restaurant with friends and left the game just as the Mets' 8th inning rally ended with a man on base, and Yankee fans at the bar predicting the Mets would lose Games 3 and 4. I had the game on the radio for the drive back, and pulled into my driveway just as Benny hit the homer. When I heard the crack of the bat I instantly spiked the volume way up, just in time for Gary Cohen's screams of "It's outta here! OUTTA HERE!" to wake up my sleeping kids in the back seat. And possibly my neighbors too.

Dae Sung Koo's ridiculous double off of Randy Johnson, followed by scoring from 2nd base on a sac bunt by Jose Reyes. And on a similarly incredulous note, Roger Cedeno stealing home against the Yankees. Close behind them would be seeing Dave Mlicki shutting out the 1997 Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the first ever regular season Subway Series game, a classic feel-good story of no-names defeating defending world champions on a big stage.

Listening to countless summer games broadcast on the radio by Bob Murphy, Howie Rose and Gary Cohen.

Watching Jose Reyes play in 2005 and 2006, and through August or so of 2007, when he really was the "Most Exciting Player In Baseball". May he be so again.

Alas, that segues into my well of painful memories: Being at Shea for Game 5 of the 2000 World Series and watching the place at close to 40% full of celebrating Yankees fans on the way out.

Listening on the radio to Benitez blowing a save against the Braves down the stretch of 2001, when the Mets were still in close contention for the Wild Card and I desperately wanted some kind of relief from the depression following the attacks of Sept. 11th. But no, the Mets would fade and the Yankees would carry the NY logo into the World Series. Sigh.

Being at Shea to see the Mets fall short in Game 6 of the 2006 NLCS after Endy made The Catch, with the Mets loading the bases with one out in the bottom of that inning but failing to score, then rallying in the 9th by putting the tying runs on base with nobody out and failing to score.

Being at Shea for the last-ever Kids Day game there in the final week of 2008, when every game was a must-win, and taking my son to the bathroom with the Mets leading 2-1 and coming back 10 minutes later to see the Mets trailing the Cubs 7-2. And then having to explain to my 4-year-old boy why everyone looked so upset all of a sudden.

Being at Shea for the final game there as the Mets once again missed the playoffs by one game, by losing to the Marlins at home.

Watching on TV as the Mets blew save after save against the Braves in Game 6 of the 1999 NLCS. I just wanted a Game 7.

Seeing Jody Gerut hit the first HR at Citi Field on the third pitch of the game on Opening Day in 2009. With the Mets ultimately losing as well.

Way too many games sitting in the new ballpark this past year barely caring what happened on the field, because the team was such a rag-tag bunch of fill-ins and the team so distant in the standings, and seething about how much I was paying for a view I ultimately decided I didn't like. (At least I usually got to upgrade myself for free to Caesars Gold when the ushers didn't re-check my tickets, and I DID like those seats very much.... But also outraged at the idea of paying $150 per seat on average, and $180 for the many "Gold" games, to sit 3 tiers up from the field.)

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So many from 1986 - The 4-game sweep in St. Louis in April that set the tone for the year, the fight in Cincinnati, et cetera.
Games 3 (watched on breaks from helping my father fix a car), 5 (my English teacher let us watch the game in high school) and 6 (AKA the never-ending game) of the LCS.
The two most magical words for a Mets fan in 1986 - GAME SIX. I learned ANYTHING is possible from 10/25/86. You just knew they could not lose the next game.
Game 3 of the '88 LCS - Jay Howell gets tossed and the last bit of magic from '86 gets used up.
1999 DS Game 4 - Thank you Todd Pratt!
1999 CS Game 5 - The GS Single.
2000 DS Game 3 - BENNY!!!
7/27/08 - Johan's first Met CG and my last game at Shea.

It is tragic that for each of these, there seems to be a painful memory to match it:
1987 - Pendleton's HR off McDowell
1988 CS Game 4 - the potential Dynasty dies with Scoscia's HR.
1989 - Dykstra and McDowell for SAMUEL?!?!?!!!!?!?!?!? Still hurts 20+ years down the line
1998, 2007 & 2008 final days
1999 CS Game 6 - What was Leiter doing starting? Why could no one hold a lead?!?!
2000 WS Game 1 and Game 5 - I HATE the Yankees with the fire of a 1000 suns. I hate Benietez even more, and Valentine (for his pointless devotion to Leiter) only a little less.
9/23/01 - have I mentioned that I really don't like Benietez?
2006 CS Game 7 - how could they have blown it after Endy's catch?!?

Such are the travails of being a mets fan.

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1999 CS Game 6 - What was Leiter doing starting? Why could no one hold a lead?!?!
2000 WS Game 1 and Game 5 - I HATE the Yankees with the fire of a 1000 suns. I hate Benietez even more, and Valentine (for his pointless devotion to Leiter) only a little less.

What's with the bagging on Leiter? He was the best starter on the 1999-2000 squad, period, full stop. I loved Rick Reed in those years too, but with a must-win game on the line, you'd have been mad not to pick Leiter unless he'd pitched less than 3 days earlier, the only exception being if you could start Reed on full rest, which wasn't the case.

What was he doing starting NLCS Game 6 in 1999? Those '99 Mets (who won more games, 97, than any Mets team since) wouldn't have won the Wild Card, much less be in Game 6 of the NLCS, had Leiter not spun a complete game gem in the one-game playoff against Cincinnati.

You might say he shouldn't have pitched into the 9th inning of Game 5 of the 2000 World Series. But it was a 2-2 tie game with 2 outs and Luis Sojo, not the biggest of bats, at the plate. Who would you have brought in? The aforementioned closer, Benitez?

They had a shot at getting Posada out at the plate on the throw home, too. Then Payton's throw was a little late and hit the sliding Posada in the back, ricocheting away and allowing the second run to score.

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Tom Seaver's first game back at Shea Stadium in a Reds uniform, 1977. He threw a complete game to beat Jerry Koosman. I sat in a front row Upper Deck box seat behind home plate. Fans gave Seaver 4 or 5 standing ovations. Lotsa love for Tom Terrific.

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Fantastic stories, guys. It feels good to remember that there really have been so many positives, and there really has been so much fun, sprinkled amongst the, uh, other stuff.

I don't know if this is my favorite memory, but it certainly was memorable:

Thursday night, July 4, 1985. Mets in Atlanta. Was at my girlfriend (now wife)'s apartment. She had get up early to go to work Friday while I had the day off, so I ended up going home around 10. Had the car; no cable TV for me then, so I figured I'd "drive around for awhile" listening to the "rest" of the game.

I drove. And drove. And drove. And drove some more.

Till the game ended af four o'clock in the morning, with Ron Darling closing out the game in the bottom of the nineteenth inning! Classic, epic, off the charts game. Mesmerizing. Key moment: the Rick Camp (pitcher) home run off Tom Gorman to tie the game deep into extra innings when the Braves were down to their last out and had no pinch hitters.

Oh, it was fireworks night in Atlanta. They shot them off after the game close to dawn, as the teams were heading to the buses.

The next day I found out the game was not on cable, it was on Channel 9, and I could have watched the damn thing at home instead of driving around all night like a fool.

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My first ever baseball game with my father it was against the Cardinals in 1997 I believe and Mets came back with HR's from Olerud and Piazza to win it. It was a doubleheader day so I cant really recall the exact date.

Another Mets game I went to that Mo Vaughn won it with a check swing, lol.

Todd Pratt HR to win against the Diamondbacks
2000 World Series
David Wrights Barehanded catch
Murphys flip last year
The Catch.
Santana's 125 pitch shutout.

And Now the bad ones:
Seeing Aaron Heilman come in during the 2006 NLCS, which I knew he was going to give up a HR.
The 2007 collapse and the 2008 dissapointment
2000 World Series
All the 2009 injuries

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
-Jackie Robinson